Check out the Fitness Firm

I found this blog post today and wanted to give everyone the opportunity to read it.  I think what Kerri has to say is fabulous.  She has a very kind and open awareness of what is happening in the health industry and especially with food and how to eat it.   So check it out and I hope you enjoy it!!!

http://www.thefitnessfirm.ca/?p=1108#comment-343

Oh What a Week - Naumulten Lodge

So, this week I have spent some wonderful time with wonderful people at a beautiful back country lodge.  If you are a skier or snowboarder and have ski toured before here is the place to be.   I came up here never laying eyes on the place, someone else did my shopping, and did not find the menu for the shopping that was done.  So I unleashed my creative juices, to use the food that was given to me and make it last for a week with out compromising my standards and love for cooking.   Making it happen!!!  Did I miss my favorite ingredients, spices, herbs, meat cuts.....of course but the challenge of just making it up as I go has been a highlight of my winter and a great week!!!  Oh yeah we have also had over 100cm of snow this week which has also made for some amazing skiing!!!
Unfortunately, I did forget my camera!!   So I will soon have some pictures from the guests.  Until then here is the menu I prepared and I will post the menu that I was supposed to do!!  I love to cook!!!

Monday - Steak Night, Roasted Potatoes, Broccoli, Creamy Corn, Horseraddish and Smoked Paparika sauce.
                 Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Tuesday - Ham and Eggs on Organic Sourdough Bagels (I did bring these)
                 Scallop and Bacon Stuffed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Zucchini
                 Apple Pie

Wednesday - Eggs, Bacon and fresh made bread toasted.
                      Sunflower Seed, Almond and Yogurt Crusted Salmon, Gratin Potatoes, Mix Vegetables
                      Banana, Coconut Cream Pie

Thursday -  Vegetable Fritatta, Maple Glazed Bacon
                    Slow Roasted Beef Stew on Spinach Noodles with mixed veg.
                    Berry Tart


 Friday -   Ham and Pepper Spanish Omelette with Toast.
                 Lemon Garlic Chicken with Tatziki Sauce, Cheesey Polenta, Broccoli
                 Pumpkin Pie

Saturday - Moose Eyes and Toast
                  Slow Roasted Thai Pork Stew, Basmati Rice, Sauteed Mixed Veg, Crab and Potato Cakes
                  Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Sunday - Eggs Benedict
               Steak night again!!!  Cause we have it and I am going to use it!  I will let you how all todays
               fares turned out and hopefull with pictures!!

All of these meals included fresh baked cookies, sweet breads, fresh breads (thanks to Norm for the amazing recipe on the No Knead Bread) and bars for snacks and lunch items which are eaten in the outdoors!  I will also post the original menu for the week to show that there are multiple creative dishes that can be made just using what you have!!!

Have a delicious day everyone!!

November Schmovember

When I think of all 12 months of the year, November is the hardest one on the system.  It is getting darker everyday, the sun just doesn't shine as much, the air can't seem to decide whether it wants to be cold or warm, setting off a display of snow, rain and snrain (half rain/half snow).  The only joy in this month of Movember the moustache growning extravaganza for men and to remind them to take care of their health and have a check up at the doctor.  Women are reminded all the time and that is great, but the men had been left out until a few years ago when the moustache came back to party on the upper lips of men everywhere.  I love the moustaches that are grown, so many different varieties and even the guys who don't quite have enough facial hair make a go at it.
While the health and well being of all our men is on our minds this month, isn't it nice to know that there are foods that are great for your man as well?

Tomatoes, these are fabulous for the man in your life.  Tomatoes are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content, including, of course, their oftentimes-rich concentration of lycopene.  Intake of tomatoes has long been linked to heart health. Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. In addition, tomato extracts have been shown to help prevent unwanted clumping together (aggregation) of platelet cells in the blood - a factor that is especially important in lowering risk of heart problems like atherosclerosis. That is just one amazing benefit of these delicious and user friendly foods.
While there are many benefits to the tomato and the wide varities that are available I also like to refer to this delicious fruit the same way the French do, pomme d'amour, meaning "love apple," and in Italy, tomato is sometimes referred to as "pomodoro" or "golden apple," probably referring to tomato varieties that were yellow/orange/tangerine in color.
On these cold, wet days and early dark nights, have a read about the tomato and its benefits for you and your moustache wearing man!

It is also pomegrante season again!!  These delicious fruits, although some work to get into and will leave a nice red hue to your finger tips, are a very healthy choice!



"Risks of impotency and prostate cancer are some of the most common medical problems which men have to confront with. Men suffering from atherosclerosis (a stage of arteriosclerosis involving fatty deposits (atheromas) inside the arterial walls, thus narrowing the arteries) are more prone to developing impotency. The antioxidants found in pomegranate juice helps in checking arteriosclerosis and reduces the risk of the occurrence of impotency. Pomegranate benefits for men, when used with conventional treatment methods, is known to help in treating prostate cancer. This is due to its quality of reducing the levels of prostate specific antigen PSA (a protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland. PSA is produced for the ejaculate, where it liquifies the semen and allows sperm cells to swim freely. Elevated levels of PSA in blood serum are associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer). Certain studies have shown that in patients who regularly consumed this fruit, prostate cancer cells also decreased in growth." -http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pomegranate-benefits-for-men.html

I would highly recommend eating these throughout your day.  I like them in my smoothies in the morning and on my salad at night.  They are delicious, in season (you can't beat that) and abundant so they are cheaper to buy.  Crack one open and get your hues of red started early this year.

Have a delicious day and look out as my new business "bake'd" is starting up soon and so far the sourdough bagels are a hit!!!

Woke Up Ravenous!!!!

Woke up ravenous this morning. Moose eyes are just the fix.  Lining a muffin tin with prosciutto, adding a little goat cheese and Dijon mustard to the bottom and finish with an egg.  Into the oven at 350F for about 10 - 12 minutes (look for the white to be cooked and the yoke to still be soft....it is a very fine time line!  This does not need salt as the prosciutto is salty.  Finish with some pepper and get a fresh croissant to dip in.  

Not hungry anymore and ready to start the day!

                   Have A Fabulous Day Everyone

Carrot Cake Recipe/ Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Here is the recipe for the carrot cake and with a few modifications, chocolate zucchini cake....which at this time of the year is a delight for all those giant zucchinis in the garden!!

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups of white flour, 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour,(i will also substitute spelt flour for the wheat sensitive)  2tsp baking powder, 2tsp baking soda, 4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar,1 cup of raisins,1 cup of walnuts,chopped, 1 1/4cup of oil(i have been using grape seed oil as of late).
4 eggs slightly beating, 2 cups carrots,grated, 1 cup crushed pineapple,drained, 2tsp vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir in sugar, raisins and walnuts.  Make a well and add oil, carrots, pineapple, vanilla and eggs. Blend well.  Pour into a greased 9 or 10inch round baking pan and bake in a 350F preheated oven for approximately 1 hour until skewer comes out clean.  Cool.  To prepare the icing, beat together room temperature cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and icing sugar and continue beating until smooth.  Cut the cake in half horizontally and spread some icing between the two layers, before icing the whole cake......i didn't do this as you can see in my picture and the cake was still delicious. 

I also added some lemon zest to this recipe just to make it a little fresher tasting.  It was added in the icing and cake.

Now for the Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
Remove the pineapple.  Exchange the carrots for zucchini and add 3/4cup of Coco Powder.  I also added orange zest and a bit of juice for a nice fresh flavour.  the juice helps give a little more moisture since there is another dry ingredient (coco powder) being added.  I used the zest and juice of 2 oranges for my recipe.  Bake at 350F for about an hour or when a skewer pulls out clean from the centre.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY EVERYONE!!!!

Camping and Cooking

The best kitchen window in the world is no window, doors, walls, it is being outside!!  Whether back country skiing, summer camping the more remote the better.  It is amazing what can be pulled off on the fly!!
I recently join ROAM Adventures www.iroamtheworld.com for an amazing camping/ rafting vacation as their chef and it was fabulous.  Although the original plans had changes on the way it was a beautiful trip with wonderful people and the scenery was spectacular with a huge water fall and lots of birds. Sleeping out under the stars wasn't bad either!
Here is a dinner that was enjoyed on the first night.  Some fresh BC Wild Sockeye  Salmon with a coarse cornmeal crust, fresh local blueberry, cucumber, onion and thyme salsa, coleslaw, mash potatoes (got to get the kids interested), asparagus and carrot cake for dessert....I did pre-make that as baking facilities were not available and prep is the name of the game out here in the wild!
Enjoy and please share your favorite outdoor back-country extravaganzas.

 The kitchen...............

 Best crew ever, singers, musicians, general comedians, dish assistants and guides!

The prep area.

 Dinner!!

 Carrot cake, oh yeah this recipe is incredible.

The dishes for 24 people and me cooking in at the camp.

Breakfast the next day was sausage, eggs to order, Spanish omelet, homemade granola, yogurt, juice, raspberry scones (pre-made), apricot and lemon cake.

Harvest, Hikes and Good Eats

  This is one of my favorite sunflowers in the garden this year.  I have found myself really examining it from bloom and now it is growing seeds for next years garden.....already planning!  The harvest thus far has been fabulous, potatoes, leeks, beets, butter crunch lettuce, broccoli, various peppers, strawberries, carrots, fava beans (my new favorite and there will be a lot of these next year), snap peas, various squash, kale, french beans, fennel, Brussel sprouts(i am hoping these finish, but great learning experience),Jerusalem artichoke,tomatillos, garlic, onions and lots of herbs!  A lot of new things were tried this year and the learning experience of the garden is one of my favorite things about summer.  Cooking various meals from the garden is my other favorite and I hope you enjoy some pictures as much as I enjoyed making the pictures!!!

A little Thai curry stew.  I love to go grocery shopping everyday in the garden and see what is ready to eat!!

Duck for dinner, yes please.  This particular one was a cupboard cleaning meal.  using ingredients that will need to  be eaten and replaced was fun.  There is a lot going on in this bowl but it was delicious!

 My quick version of Huevos Rancheros.  Hands down my favorite breakfast!!!  Not the prettiest but sure delicious!

This meal was some garden goodness!  Curried Lamb Shank....this was from the lamb that was purchased last spring from a local source.  The veggies were from the garden plus some Paneer, spice and coconut milk.  So Good!
What have you been eating from your garden?  Have any questions???? Please ask!

 The wee George and a Mountain Goat.  They hung out just staring at each other for a long time!

 The crew at the base of Gimili Peak!

 I almost stepped on this!  Large and in charge in the mountains!